Spartan's Quest - Chapter 17
Author owns no rights to Firefly, and writes only for his own amusement
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Apollo eased into orbit around Nightside with no fanfare. Prim had ordered the pilot to avoid attracting attention to them if at all possible, and he had done well.
"We're on station, sir," the pilot informed Prim. He nodded, looking at the sensor screen. Finally, he sighed.
"I think we're clear. Let's begin entry, and set down near the manor."
"Aye, sir," the pilot nodded. "We'll be. . . ." He broke off, frowning. "Sir, there are two other ships on screen, now. Approaching at a high rate of speed."
"What?" Prim snapped, looking back from where he'd been about to leave the bridge. "Who are they?" he demanded, walking back toward the screen console.
"Unknown, sir. . .wait." The pilot flipped a series of switches, then sighed, sitting back into his seat.
"It's Athena and Artemis, sir," he informed a pensive Prim.
"Are you certain?"
"No doubt of it, sir," the pilot nodded. "IFF verifies both vessels. Keeping loose formation, inbound for the manor, if the plot stays the same."
"Well," Prim almost smiled. "That is good news. Apparently everyone has done well, so far. Very well," he straightened. "Take us in." Prim left the bridge, making his way to the galley where Inara, Simon and Kaylee were sitting together.
"We're on station, and about to begin the landing sequence. You'll be pleased to know that both the Athena and the Artemis are also inbound. We'll probably see them all on the ground."
"Shiny!" Kaylee bubbled. Simon agreed. He'd be glad to see his sister again.
"That is good news," Inara's response was more restrained, but just as evident. "I assume since Mal and Neera are inbound, that their mission was successful?"
"I assume so, as well," Prim nodded. "We'll know shortly."
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"Single ship in orbit is definitely Apollo, milord," Harry said confidently. "She just pinged us."
"Good deal," Jayne nodded. "Now we've got all our eggs in one basket."
"Sir, there are. . . ." Harry trailed off, looking at the sensor screen. "There are five, now six ships on the screen sir. All approaching on different vectors. We're being hailed, milord," she added, as the cortex lit up. Jayne nodded, moving to the screen. He hit the receive button, and the screen lit up with the face of a severe woman, her hair slightly greying. She frowned in annoyance as she saw Jayne.
"This had better be important, boy," she warned at once, and Jayne chuckled.
"Always so diplomatic and glad to see me, aye Elizabeth?" he said calmly.
"I'm never glad to see you, Janos," Elizabeth replied. "It always means trouble. If you dropped by once in a while with steak and wine, maybe, then I might, note that I say might be glad to see you. Maybe," she added. Mal smirked.
"Seems I ain't the only one you rub the wrong way, Jayne," he said snidely, and Jayne nodded.
"You have no idea," he murmured, then turned back to Elizabeth. "It is important, Liz, I promise. And it is trouble, I'm afraid."
"I told you never to call me that again," the woman growled, and Jayne nodded.
"Slipped my mind. Just a habit from when I remembered you as nice people," Jayne smiled, and River winced. Neera just laughed.
"One of these days, boy, I'm gonna. . . ." Elizabeth threatened.
"See you on the ground, Liz," Jayne needled, then cut the wave.
"Just can't help makin' friends wherever you go, can ya Jayne?" Mal chittered from where he lounged in the co-pilot's chair. Jayne snorted.
"She's been my friend for a long time," he shrugged. "Doesn't mean she always likes me. And, she's right," he admitted. "Most times when she hears from me, it's bad news."
"Lotta that goin' around," Mal nodded. "So, what now, by the way?"
"One thing at a time," Jayne shrugged. "Let's get these people on the ground, and get them settled. Then we'll see."
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It must have been quite a sight to see the three Asgard corvettes settling in side by side, followed by a half dozen smaller vessels. A small delegation from the nearby town met them at the field, only to be turned away, with Janos' thanks. Once they were alone again, Jayne met with the others.
"We have the other children, milord," Prim informed him, after the two had greeted one another.
"We need to get them inside, first I suppose," Jayne mused. "I know they aren't in the best of shape."
"They're doing better," Simon informed both him and River. "They aren't near well, of course. But any improvement is a good sign."
"I agree," River nodded. "In the meantime, we need to make arrangements to get the others settled. We have several whole families cooped up on these ships."
"We'll see to it," Jayne nodded. "For now, since we're all here, and safe, that's what we'll concentrate one. Well, what the rest of you will concentrate on. I have some people to meet," he nodded toward the other ships.
"Want company?" River asked.
"No," he shook his head slowly. "Best I do this alone. It won't be pleasant."
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"Are you serious?" Elizabeth Winter eyed Jayne with a jaundiced eye.
"Yes."
"And you're telling us that Neethos is responsible for this?" Jarred Barstow goggled. "I can't believe it!"
"Believe it," Jayne said darkly. "I saw it myself."
"And you killed Neethos?" Elizabeth eyed him warily.
"I did," Jayne didn't flinch. These people, like him, were 'children' of Neethos. He had felt he owed it to them to tell them face-to-face. And let them know of the problems with Neethos' legacy.
"So this man, this Brockman, he's working to. . .what?" Garrison Meadows asked. He still dressed like the riverboat gambler he'd once been.
"At the least, he's trying to separate the parasites. . .enzymes, or whatever, to offer rich people the chance to 'buy' immortality. At worst?" Jayne shrugged. "He wants to rule the 'verse."
"And you think he believes that he and his goons are the only one's like them in the 'verse?" Another asked.
"Not anymore," Jayne shook his head, explaining briefly the battle at Idlewild.
"So you exposed yourself to his thugs," Elizabeth frowned. "Now they know that there are others."
"I didn't know they didn't know," Jayne replied. "Not until they expressed such surprise at seeing us. Apparently Neethos didn't explain to Brockman that he wasn't alone. And Brockman apparently hasn't been very discriminating in who he's turned, either. We don't know how many of them there may be."
"You don't know much of anything," Barstow almost accused. "Why did you summon us like this, Janos, when you don't really know anything?"
"Are you listening to me?" Jayne almost goggled. "This man threatens our very existence! Can you imagine what could happen if the Alliance gets hold of this idiot, or one of his goons? Our secret will be out, and we'll be in danger of being discovered!"
Barstow nodded thoughtfully at that. The others followed suit.
"Look, I know there isn't much to go on," Jayne told them. "But I felt this warranted a meeting. And, more than that, all of you deserved to know. There may be a threat to us. I know there's a threat to the peace and stability that we depend upon to keep our secret. If Brockman is caught, or exposed, then the Alliance will start looking for more. Sooner or later, someone will think, 'he ain't got no older since I was a boy', or something like that, and we'll all be in for it."
"All right," Winter nodded. "I agree you did right by this. But what is it you expect us to do?" she demanded. "You don't know much of anything about this man, and we know nothing. So what is it you expect us to do?"
"All of you know people," Jayne shrugged. "Find this man. Once we find him, and his people, we can move in, neutralize him, and the problem, the threat, goes away. We can all go back to our lives, and breathe easier."
"That sounds easier said than done," Barstow mused.
"Why?" a rugged looking man, silent till now, spoke up. Thom Fell still held to his mountain man roots, and lived on a far flung rim moon, pretty much the same way he'd lived on Earth. "We start lookin', we track'em, we kill'em. I don't see what's the trouble with that." Jayne nodded.
"Right," he agreed. "Thom's right. Look, Brockman may have turned dozens of his thugs by now. And who knows how many they might have turned. We can either let them keep going like they are, and hope we don't get found out, or we can eliminate this threat to our own well being."
"Seems to me you've got more than just your own well being mixed up in this, Janos," Barstow nodded to where the children and their families were being ushered off the ships.
"I do," Jayne nodded. "Those kids have been tortured, Jarred. And Neethos helped do it. I'm doing everything I can to set that right. Some of those children won't ever recover. They've been traumatized in a way that should leave all of us sick."
"And Brockman wants to keep doing it. Isolating 'eternal youth' and 'health' from everything else, and selling it. And, maybe worse. You know about the Pax," he eyed them. It was more of a statement than a question. They all nodded.
"Well, Neethos was involved with the people who developed that, along with all these other criminal actions. This is evil on a scale I have never seen. And it has to be stopped. I'm not asking you to help me care for these children, or even to protect them. I've seen to that. I'm asking you to help me fight against Brockman to preserve our secrets, and protect yourselves."
"Easy now," Elizabeth raised a hand in supplication. "No need to get riled."
"Maybe you aren't riled enough!" Jayne almost yelled. Several people near the other ships stopped what they were doing, attracted to the noise.
"This man, and his designs, are a threat," Jayne repeated more calmly. "And Neethos made him that way. It's our problem to deal with, and you know that."
"I don't see that it's our problem," Barstow objected. "But I agree that someone needs to act on it," he added before Jayne could react. "I'm not about to accept responsibility for something Neethos has done, Janos. But I will see what I can do about helping get rid of this Brockman character." Jayne nodded his thanks.
"I'm in," Fell said at once. "I love a good fight," he smiled.
"Deal me in," Garrison smiled. He turned to Fell. "Want to tag along with me, Fell? We'll drift over to Ariel and see what we can sniff out."
"Sounds fine," Fell nodded.
"I'll help too," another voiced. "I'll get with some of my people, and head over to Persephone. Brockman may still have an organization there. If he does, we'll sniff it out."
"I'll head to Osiris," Winter said suddenly. "Neethos had a lot of contacts there. One of them may know something useful."
"I think I'll go with you," Barstow told her. "We'll let you know what we find, Janos."
"Thank you," Jayne nodded, trying not to show his relief. He failed.
"Did you think we'd just leave it to you, boy?" Elizabeth asked, smirking.
"It was starting to feel that way," Jayne admitted.
"I'm sorry you had to kill Neethos," Barstow said kindly. "But I'm glad it was you, and not me. I'm not sure I could have taken him."
"Me either," Fell nodded. "He was a wily one."
"We owe you for that, anyway," Garrison smiled easily. "We'll be in touch." He and the others drifted away, heading back to their ships. Winter stayed for a moment, eyeing Jayne carefully.
"Are you all right, boy?" she asked gruffly. Jayne smiled, and nodded.
"I'm fine, Liz."
"Stop calling me that," she huffed in response, though her eyes sparkled as she said it.
"I'll try." She hugged him then.
"We'll find them," she promised, stepping back. "Meantime, you take care of this business. When it's time, we'll call."
"Be careful," he warned. "Don't underestimate them. They don't have a tithe of experience, but there may be a lot of them."
"Not for long," she said over her shoulder, heading for her own ship. "Not for long."
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"That didn't last long," Mal noted, as Jayne walked back up to them. Neera and River were with him, the rest having gone on ahead.
"They're going to look for Brockman, and get an idea of his organization," Jayne told them. "We'll let them and their folks deal with that, while we keep a low profile. We've got a lot of work to do, anyway, getting these people settled. Hopefully by the time we're done, they'll know something useful."
"Well, meantime, I'm hungry," River offered, and Mal laughed.
"I swear 'tross, you're always hungry these days."
"Growing girl, Captain Daddy," River smirked.
"So you are," Mal smiled. "Shall we," he said to Neera, offering her his arm.
"Delighted, Captain," she smiled, taking the offered arm. The two of them started for the house. River looked at Jayne.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"I am now," he nodded, hugging her to him. "With the children and their parents all here, all safe, and with our friends here safe, we can start taking the offense. I want to end this, once and for all."
"I like that plan," River smiled up at him. "Meantime, I really am hungry."
"Well, let's go see what we can scrounge up." The two of them headed for the manor, following Mal and Neera.
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"So, what you aim to do?" Wilson asked, looking across the desk at Brockman.
"We need to be better prepared for facing the others," Brockman stated firmly. "You say they used swords?"
"Like they knowed how, too," Wilson nodded. "Guns just ain't much use."
"No more than they have been against us," Brockman nodded. "I didn't plan for this. I had no idea there were others like us. If we're going to survive against them, we have to learn to fight like they do."
"With swords?" Wilson asked in amusement.
"Probably," Brockman surprised him. "Unless you know of another way."
"Maybe a rocket launcher," Wilson shrugged.
"Not very practical," Brockman pointed out with a snort.
"I know," Wilson sighed. "I guess you're right. I don't see no other way. I ain't never even held a sword. Pretty fair with a knife, but I don't think that'll help."
"I've already made arrangements," Brockman told him. He gave the man a small file folder. Wilson took it, opening it. He read for a few minutes, then looked up at Brockman.
"Sihnon?" he asked, puzzled.
"There is a sword master there," Brockman nodded. "A very good one. He teaches Companions, in fact," he added. "And, while he doesn't come cheap, he is willing to teach you. All of you," he added. "Your men and mine. I want you to take everyone with you. Leave whenever you want, so long as it's today."
"Be crowded," Wilson noted.
"It isn't that far," Brockman shrugged. "Wilson, we have to keep a low profile. I rented a house on Sihnon. Keep your men under control while you're there. We don't need any problems with the law. Nothing to draw attention to yourselves. Understand?"
"No problem," Wilson nodded. "And they won't cause trouble anyway, since this'll give them the edge next time we meet our new friends."
"I've managed to convince Master Bukidao to teach you for three months, every day. The work will be hard, and demanding. Make sure you give your men ample incentive to pay attention, and learn all they can."
"I imagine livin' to a ripe old age'll be all the incentive they need."
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The ships that departed Nightside lingered in orbit long enough for the people on board to verify to the others what they planned to do. It was agreed that they would check in with each other every seventy-two hours. If anyone failed to check in, the rest would go at once to their last known location and see what had happened.
The Brethren on board those ships had survived a long time, some of them for a millennia or longer, by being cautious, and careful. Suspicious, even. They were smart, tough, and resourceful, as well as near immortal. Their existence had been carefully hidden for well over an age. That secret was now threatened. This could not be allowed, and if that meant that this man Brockman and his followers had to perish, then so be it. All of them had spilled blood beyond measure in the long course of their lives. They were no strangers to violence.
One by one the ships departed, on their way to sniff out this threat, and make plans to eliminate it.
For good.